Hinch silence draws to an end

Five months of court-imposed silence endured by outspoken broadcaster Derryn Hinch will end when the clock strikes midnight on Tuesday.

The man known as the Human Headline was ordered by a magistrate in July to stay home and keep quiet after he breached court suppression orders by naming sex offenders.

But as of Wednesday, he will no longer be restricted from tweeting, emailing, Facebook posting or talking publicly.

Victorian Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg had sentenced Hinch to five months' home detention, imposing strict conditions on what he could say and who he could talk to.

Hinch was banned from communicating via the internet, email or any social networking service such as Facebook or Twitter.

Mr Rozencwajg also banned him from publishing in any manner in any media, from granting interviews to the media, and from engaging in gainful employment.

On his Twitter page, Hinch's profile reads: "Under House arrest for Name Them Shame Them campaign. Banned from Twitter. Tweets back midnight Dec 20."

Hinch, who underwent a liver transplant in July, had pleaded guilty to four charges of deliberately breaching suppression orders prohibiting the identification of sex offenders.

The charges stemmed from information Hinch posted on his website and statements he made from the steps of the Victorian Parliament during a rally in 2008.

He had admitted similar offences five times previously.

In sentencing, Mr Rozencwajg told Hinch his behaviour had been deliberate and contemptuous and said he would have had no hesitation in sending him to jail had it not been for the 67-year-old's poor health.

Hinch was jailed briefly in 1987 for illegally naming a pedophile priest.